Purpose This paper aims to provide an introduction to how worker co-operatives and other organisations based on principles of the participatory economy have been adopted in a range of international contexts as a vehicle for transforming places with a strong aspiration to address location-specific social challenges. Design/methodology/approach Through a presentation of four narrative cases, the paper exemplifies international experiences of co-operative approaches to place-making. It critically reflects on the philosophical and strategic underpinnings of the projects implemented in Rochdale, Preston, Bologna, Rome and Cincinnati. Findings The practical experiences of a number of local projects of place-making involving co-operatives are conceptualised. The research has identified the importance of institutional, organisational and legal constraints for transformative cooperative-based place-making initiatives. It shows a strong relevance of the place’s historic legacy and communal governance for the choice of place-making approaches. Research limitations/implications Further investigation is needed to establish whether co-operatives have the same driving force potential in terms of local regeneration and community wealth building place-making in non-Western contexts and less developed locations. Practical implications The paper highlights cases that incorporate place-making practices involving the co-operative organisation and municipal participation and considers their transferability potential. Originality/value The paper advances an important conversation relevant to researchers, educators, co-operators, politicians and local officials on diverse contemporary approaches in towns and cities that seek to reshape and regenerate local socio-economic fabric by engaging tradition, principles and organisation models developed within the co-operative movement.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of claims of cultural appropriation in negotiating who has the right to utilise specific racial, cultural or communities' ways of knowing in research co-production. Cultural appropriation is a claim made against those making illegitimate use of traditions, knowledge and practises that originate from specific racial and/or cultural group. Appropriation helps us interrogate the ways in which rewards and benefits in academia are distributed and shared, denied or hoarded, and by whom.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a dialogue between two researchers in the in-betweens of research co-production, specifically in the negotiation of claiming the right to lead or engage in Afrofuturist work with communities.FindingsThe claim of cultural appropriation is useful in naming, drawing boundaries and creating spaces for negotiation around access and ownership of academic work but must also develop as part of a broader transformative agenda towards racial equality in academia.Research limitations/implicationsIn addition to ethical considerations about power imbalances and extractive practises, research co-production should also be concerned with acknowledging and crediting knowledge production practises that originate from specific racial and/or cultural groups.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to explore issues of cultural appropriation in research co-production, and co-production in relation to Afrofuturism. This extends ethical concerns on research co-production beyond academic power imbalances with, and extracting value from, communities to negotiating the relationships between academics and traditions, knowledge and practises developed by specific racial and/or cultural groups.

Young people are increasingly referred to as the 'lost generation' because a series of worldwide crises has meant they are at a greater risk of marginalisation from the labour market. However, these risks of marginalisation have been felt more disproportionately by racially minoritised young people. This article challenges the dominant thinking and practice in youth employment policy and service delivery by examining how the entanglement between race and opportunity structures constrains racially minoritised young people's transition to employment. It argues that race structures disadvantage racially minoritised young people in the labour market, focusing primarily on employers' recruitment practices. This article pays particular attention to the role of employees in employment support services in dismantling race structures. Using qualitative data from a research project in the UK, this article concludes that employer engagement is a channel through which employees within employment support services can dismantle race structures. Through relationships with employers, employees within employment support services can mitigate risks of marginalisation for racially minoritised young people.